Jump and I will catch you!

The New England Youth Theatre of Brattleboro, VT is 10 years old! About the same age as many of NEYT's "green" participants. It seems like, just like a child, NEYT has grown exponentially in the last 10 years. A ten year old child is at least 10 times as heavy and at least two times longer than he or she was when he or she came into this world. NEYT at 10 years has 10 times more students and faculty, and way more space and stuff than it did at "birth" - sans theatre, sans office, sans anything beyond Uncle Stevie's dream.
Founded on the idea that kids could run their own show - take charge and delve into all the arts involved in putting on a play - NEYT began to gather a following. Stephen Stearns has often been compared to the Pied Piper, singing his songs about angels while entranced young people follow dreamily. But he has been more, much more! The motto of the Youth Theatre has always been "Leap and the Net will Appear!" Alumni have taken that challenge constantly in their lives by following dreams and taking positive risks.
For the 10 year anniversary celebration last weekend this "motto" was playfully spoofed by Nick Bombicino and Carolyn Wesley in their original musical in celebration of the 10 year anniversary:

"Jump and I will catch you,
Leap you will not fall,
I am here to catch you,
Clowning through it all.

"And there will always be a net,
And there will always be a red nose
No matter whatever we'll love you for you..."

(Stay tuned for this on You Tube, it will rock your socks if you haven't seen it.)

While NEYT began as an intimite group of youngsters, it has grown and grown, but we are still connected as alumni - we still have a home there, and are welcomed back every time. It is too true that NEYT loves us for who we were, are, and who we have yet to become. I hope that through providing opportuinites for alums to return to perform, direct and teach NEYT will continue to be a supportive artistic outlet for youth, those young in body and those in heart.

Please stay tuned for what is next: Red Noses - howzit going?